Often, on the NJASK students will be required to provide a summary of part of an informational text. This can be challenging, especially if there are no "features" (headings, words in bold, glossaries) that point to what's most important in an article. We can help students to find what's most important in a nonfiction article by teaching them to read the first sentence of a paragraph asking, "What is this paragraph saying?" Then, we teach students to read, sentence by sentence, asking "How does that go with what I've already read?" And finally, to say, at the end of a paragraph, "This paragraph is mostly about ___________."

You can model this whole-class with a nonfiction text that has no features. Model how you ask and answer that first question, then model how you gain more information as you read the next sentences. Finally, you can name the paragraph. Ask students to name each paragraph in the article. They can do that work in partnership or independently. Then, ask students to summarize one part of the article.

Let's say you're reading an article about choosing healthy foods. Maybe the first paragraph is an introduction that tells the reader food is like fuel for our bodies. Then the next paragraph tells about how a certain type of food helps build muscles. The next paragraph tells how certain foods can help fight infections. Another paragraph teaches the reader that certain foods can give us energy. Maybe another paragraph tells about foods that are unhealthy. Still another tells about empty calories. You could have students summarize a portion of the article by asking, "Write a summary on the kinds of food you'd eat to keep your body healthy."

Summaries are important! In every part of life we summarize. We sum up the events of our day; we sum up the plot of a movie, we sum up meetings; we sum up news reports. If we give kids structured ways of breaking down text, they will be much better about telling the important parts, and letting go of the rest.